


A Certain Magic

by Crollalanza



Series: Love and Friendship  (the Hogwarts AU) [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, haikyuu hogwarts au, other characters from haikyuu mentioned briefly, sorting is a nightmare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 10:37:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6654649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crollalanza/pseuds/Crollalanza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a Muggle-born aboard the Hogwart's Express, Hinata Shouyou has no idea where he'll fit in or what's in store for him at his new school. All he's interested in is Quidditch and learning how to fly.</p><p>But the journey to Hogwarts is a long one, and after one encounter in the bathroom, he flees down the corridor where he literally bumps into another boy unsure of his place in the world.</p><p>Maybe they can find their way together ...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Certain Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Andramion](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andramion/gifts).



> This story is for the amazing Nikki's birthday. (sorry it's late).
> 
> Sorting is a nightmare. I hate it, but these are my opinions.
> 
> Please note that as the Hogwarts school year starts in September and not April, then characters are in different years. Hinata and Kenma are in the same year. Suga, Iwaizumi and Oikawa are a year above Daichi and Kuroo.

_Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with five beautifully painted faces: Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were not moving as the portraits at Hogwarts moved, but there was a certain magic about them all the same: Harry thought they breathed. What appeared to be fine golden chains wove around the pictures, linking them together, but after examining them for a minute or so, Harry realized that the chains were actually one word, repeated a thousand times in golden ink: friends. . . friends . . . friends . . ._

From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

 

In the normal run of things, Shouyou wouldn’t have seen him on the train.  True they were fellow first years, but while _his_ eyes were wide-eyed with excitement, the other boy’s expression was blank, with only a flicker of ‘seen it all before’ in his eyes. The other boy, with dark hair flopping over his face and a hunched set to his shoulders, like an envelope folding in on itself, wasn’t on Akiteru’s list, which was one of the reasons Shouyou didn’t see him until they were nearly at the Hogwarts.

 

Ordinarily Shouyou would have stuck with the Prefect sent to supervise the Muggleborn first years (a rather harried looking blond wizard who gave him a weary but friendly smile and then introduced himself, ‘I’m Akiteru from Hufflepuff, pleased to meet you’) but then Shouyou never did anything he was supposed to.

It wasn’t that he deliberately tried to kick against the system, just that he got sidetracked. He got sidetracked so much that now he didn’t know which was the main path to follow.

Shouyou wanted to explore. He figured with this being a train, he really couldn’t get lost, and it would be fine for him to wander off. (Besides, he didn’t like the way a boy called Kyoutani was glaring at him – even if he was staring out the window most of the journey, Shouyou could see his reflection and it wasn’t pretty. And the other occupant, a girl called Mai, had stuck her head in a book, and sighed wearily when he’d tried to talk.) So he ducked out of his carriage, dawdling his way to the toilets, and kept his eyes open for the food trolley witch (the fizzing whizzbees had been incredible but gone far too soon).

Rickety-rack, rickety-rack sounded the train on the tracks, jerking the carriages as it sped around corners. To Shouyou more used to bus rides or his bicycle, this in itself was an adventure, as the train hurtled through tunnels and roared through the English countryside. Already unsteady as his sugar hit kicked in, Shouyou careened off a wall, landed on a door, then fell through it to the floor.

It was compartment containing the toilets. That was a good thing.

There were two people in there.

And that, Shouyou realised from the way they were viewing him, was a really, really bad thing.

“What have we here?” asked one of the boys.

He was tall (well, everyone was to Shouyou who could have had the term ‘knee high to a grasshopper’ written specifically about him) already in his robes, and with brown hair falling in the most perfect waves onto his face. Hair that he flicked even if it didn’t need it.

He bent down to Shouyou, not offering a hand and making full use of his height advantage. “Well, who are you?”

“Hinata Sh-Shouyou,” he stuttered.

“What a strange name, Hinata Sh-Sh-Sh-Shouyou,” he drawled, and then his mouth twitched. “First year, yes?”

“Uh huh!” Shouyou nodded – a lot – his head continuing to bob up and down even after he’d stopped speaking.

“And in which house do you hope to be Sorted, Sh-Sh-Shouyou?”

“Um ... I ... don’t know,” he said, and a vague feeling of panic began to set in his stomach. He’d owned a big thick book about Hogwarts (bought but not read) and Professor Takeda had explained to him about Sorting and the Houses at Hogwarts when he’d visited his home, but he had no idea how they decided.

“Well, which house were your parents Sorted into?” the boy asked, shaking off the hand of his friend.

“Um... they weren’t.” Shouyou laughed nervously. “I’m ... the only one who’s ... uh ... magic. Like, my mum’s not really sure, cause she had an uncle who was a bit strange, but he’s dead now, so no one can ask him, and no one else in the family talks about him. They kind of clam up whenever she mentions his name, so ... uh ...”

“Muggleborn,” the boy’s voice cut across Shouyou’s explanation. “How amuuuusing.” He turned to his friend. “What shall we do with him?”

“Oikawa.” The second boy spoke. And although he looked far, far scarier with black spiky hair and a scowl that seemed to darken his whole face, he nonetheless appeared far, far friendlier.

“Hush, Iwa-chan, let me have some fun. I’m thinking the rubbish bin. We could levitate that over his head and ... then send a Howler to Tsukishima telling him where to pick up his fledgling.”

“Or I could head butt you and no amount of Episkey will mend your broken nose!” Iwa-chan (or whatever his name was) said, and stepped in front of Oikawa. He held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Iwaizumi Hajime. Third year at Hogwarts. We’re not all as horrible as this guy.”

 _Then why are you friendly with him?_ Shouyou wanted to say, but some instinct of self-preservation kicked in and he smiled instead. “Hi,” he said weakly. “I’m ... uh ... Shouyou.”

“Yeah, we got that,” Iwaizumi replied as he hauled him to his feet. “Muggleborn, right?”

“Mmm.” He swallowed, only now wondering how much of a problem this was going to be. Professor Takeda had been so friendly, as had Akiteru, but ... what if this was a problem? “Is that b-bad?”

“Nah. I’m half and half,” Iwaizumi said, releasing his hand. “This guy’s a pure blood.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t worry, not all of them are as up themselves as he is. Some of the Slytherins are actually decent.”

“Rude!”

“Accurate,” he countered. Then clapping his hand on Oikawa’s shoulder, he pushed him towards the door. “Bye, Hinata, we’ll leave you to piss alone.  Might see you tonight at the feast. If you’re Sorted into Hufflepuff, then I definitely will.”

They left him in the toilets, still arguing as they closed the door.

“Ugh, you’re no fun, Iwa-chan.”

“Yeah, yeah, but I don’t want to lose Hufflepuff points before we’ve got to school.”

“You? Concerned about points!” Oikawa’s laugh echoed through the corridor, reaching Hinata just as he was about to open the cubicle. “More like you don’t want a black mark against your name before tryouts.”

Shouyou held his breath. Could it be that they were ... He crept closer to the door, but all he could hear now was a mumble of voices and footsteps as they clumped away.

“Quidditch, it has to be,” he murmured and sank to the floor. “Wow.”

 

The confirmation that he wasn’t weird, wasn’t ill and could have a life where no one edged away from him or pointed the finger when odd things happened (okay so it probably had been his fault that the fish in the school pond had started leaping in the air, and yeah, maybe he had turned Koji’s hair blue – but both had been accidents!) wasn’t the best thing to have happened when Professor Takeda had delivered his Hogwarts letter. Nope, it had been when he’d visited Diagon Alley and after buying his wand (yeah, yeah, that had been really cool, too) he’d wandered down the cobbled streets, coming to a halt outside one shop.

‘Quality Quidditch Supplies’ the sign had read. But it wasn’t the red lettering picked out in oak that had grabbed his attention. Through the mullioned window, Shouyou had spied a glint of gold.

He gaped.

“It’s a ball with wings,” he gasped.

And blinked.

And rubbed his eyes in case he was imaging things.

But no, when he looked again, the golden ball was still whizzing around the window. And when he stared closer, he saw two other balls – bigger like cricket balls – struggling against leather straps holding them in a box. His eyes flicked away, and then they widened even more, so wide he wasn’t sure he’d ever get them closed again because in the background he could see rows and rows of ...

“Broomsticks... Wow!”

His mouth opened. His chin dropped. Hinata Shouyou was confronted with his dream. _I want to fly._

A yell and a scuffle of shoes brought him out of his reverie.

“It ain’t fair! Why do you get everything?”

“’Cuz, I’m older, Ryuu,” replied a girl. “And first years don’t get to play. You know that.”

Inching to the side, Shouyou watched as they walked out the shop. The boy was taller than he was, with a buzzcut and a bootfaced expression. The girl, who must have been his sister so closely did they resemble each other, had blonde hair cut choppily, and a smirk on her face. She was also carrying a box that could only have contained a broomstick.  But it wasn’t only her purchase that caught Shouyou’s attention. The pair of them were wearing shorts and tee shirts.  Just like him. Normal clothes, and not the robe things his mum had gone off to buy.

But the moment he’d decided to approach them, the girl swung around and dragged the boy in the opposite direction. “C’mon, let’s get your wand, and then maybe we’ll get an ice cream.”

“C’n I look at the owls?” the boy asked hopefully.

“You can look,” she agreed, “but we’re sharing Zuchi.”

“I want a pet.”

“Could look at cats?”

He scowled, looking fiercer than he had before and Shouyou instinctively cringed into the wall hoping he couldn’t be seen.

“Don’t like cats.”

“Better than a rat or toad,” she bargained. “Or we could get ya a Pygmy Puff. They’re cute. ”

He shrugged. “S’pose.”

They wandered off, leaving Shouyou staring after them as he wondered about animals and what on earth a pygmy puff could be.

Then he sighed. He was a first year, and from what that girl had said, first years didn’t play Quidditch. His wings had been clipped before he’d even had a chance to flap.

 

Iwaizumi Hajime was going to tryout. He’d said he was a third year. Did that mean Shouyou would have to wait two whole years before he could fly?

Huffing out his cheeks, Shouyou bolted himself in the toilet to pee, and muttered mutinously to himself about the unfairness of things when you were only eleven years old.

Disconsolately, he trudged down the corridor, not back to his carriage, but down to the back of the train, anything to kill time. Some older kids were standing around, one or two producing their wands and pretending to duel. Others recited incantations without anything happening, and although Shouyou knew he should have felt excited, it only increased his isolation because he knew nothing.

Chewing his lip, he thought guiltily of the unread books in his trunk, the well-thumbed Quidditch book was the only one he’d looked through.

And then, as the train rattled on, he lurched forwards and unable to right himself, he tripped and fell to the floor.

There was a muffled yelp and then something moved from under him.

_Huh?_

There’s no one here.

But there was definitely something wriggling underneath him now. A leg or an arm or... Rocking back on his heels, Shouyou reaching out with his hand and grabbed as he felt a wisp of material or maybe it was air, and pulled.

A boy sat there. A boy with his knees drawn up to his chest and black hair covering his eyes.

“Gosh, I’m sorry,” Shouyou started to say, and then he blinked, because he was still holding whatever had been covering the boy, but now he could see and feel it. It was wool, he thought, but softer than anything he’d ever worn, and as he twisted it between his fingers, it glimmered up at him.

And his hand had disappeared.

“Whoa, what’s this?” he asked the boy in awe.

Who shrugged.

“Demiguise,” he mumbled in reply.

“It’s cool! I couldn’t see you at all!” Shouyou replied, his voice coming out in an impressed whisper. “Gah, I’d like one of these.”

“You can buy them,” the boy said. “But ... uh ...”

“Expensive?  That’s okay, I could save up. It would be great being invisible. I mean, there’s probably a spell or something, but I bet it’s really difficult and I don’t know anything about magic. Okay, I guess I know something. Like I know I’m magic, but that’s it. I don’t know about cloaks or wands or spells or -” He broke off aware the boy was staring up at him, his eyes wide and slightly slanted – like a cats.

“Sorry, I talk too much. But I’m so excited about everything. Will you tell me about this demi-thingy.”

“Demiguise ... they’re an animal that can make itself invisible, so ... uh ... their wool’s used to ...” The boy wrinkled his nose. “But ... uh ... this works better if you’re still. If you walk around too much, then people can see your shoes, so you’re not invisible.”

“Oh.” Shouyou considered, and then realising he still had hold of the folds of the cloak, he held it out to the boy.  “I can do still.”

The boy’s lips twitched. “Really?  Only ... uh ... I saw you earlier and you kept pacing the corridors.”

“Oh, that!”  Shouyou laughed. “I was exploring.”

“On a train?”

“Well, yeah,” He looked to the floor, feeling suddenly foolish, because it was just a train, after all, so where could he have gone?

The boy began to put his cloak away, and as he did so, Shouyou caught sight of his bag.

“Quidditch through the Ages.” He grinned with utter delight. “I read this through the holidays. It sounds amazing. I can’t wait to play. Only I’ve never been on a broomstick, and I bet it’s really hard to fly.  And I want to try this so bad because even before I found out I was magic, I used to dream about flying.”  He paused for a necessary breath, then collected his thoughts as the boy in front of him stared at him with incomprehension writ on his face. “You like Quidditch then?”

“S’pose so.”

“I can’t wait to play. It looks so much fun, don’t you think?”

 “It’s ... uh ... okay.”

There was something about his eyes, and the way the boy looked up to his right to recall a memory, that stopped Shouyou in his tracks. “You’ve played!  How? I thought first years couldn’t...” He peered again, screwing up his face as he perused the boy. He didn’t look tall, but it was hard to tell when he was sitting down. “Crap, how old are you?”

“Eleven,” he muttered. “I ... uh ... I’ve played at home with a friend.”

“Wow... so cool,” breathed Shouyou. “Is it fun? I bet it’s amazing.”

“It’s okay, I s’pose. I only play to make up the numbers.”

Shouyou shuffled his bottom along the floor until he was sat alongside him because this boy seemed ... nice. Sort of quiet, but not unkind. Not scary like Kyoutani. Or their head in a book like Mai. Shy but not offhand. “You’ve got magic parents, right?”

The boy nodded minutely. “You haven’t.” It was a statement not a question.

“Nah, although my mum’s uncle -” He stopped, not wanting to go into that again. “I don’t know anything at all about Hogwarts and magic. I kind of wish I had a list of cheats or something that could open this world up to me before I use up all my lives and have to start again.”

 “What?”

“Uh... oh ...”He grinned. “I don’t mean _really_ cheat or die. But it’s like those games you get for Nintendo. People work out all the best routes really quickly and then make lists of cheats to help other players.”

“Tendou?” The boy frowned. “I’ve heard of him.”

Shouyou stared at him.“ _Nin_ tendo. It’s a computer game. I ...” He smiled again, then delving into his pocket, he pulled out his DS, sliding the switch until it powered up. “See, this game here you get to keep dogs.” He grimaced. “It’s kinda dull, but my sister likes it.”

“They move.”  His tone changed, surprise and a flicker of ... was it excitement in his voice?

Puzzled Shouyou frowned at him, wondering if the boy was taking the piss. “Uh, yeah,” he said warily.

“I thought Muggle pictures stayed still. That’s what Kuro tells me.”

“Um, yeah, they do, but this is a video game, so...” He handed the DS over, letting the boy study it, his gaze intense.

Shouyou coughed. “I’m Hinata Shouyou, by the way.”

“Kozume... Kozume Kenma,” he muttered. He jerked back when a yap emerged from the DS. “It makes a noise. Are they real?” He poked the screen with his finger.

“Nah. It’s all graphics,” Shouyou supplied. He slumped back against the wall, stretching out his legs.”Do you know much about Sorting?”

“Not much. People talk about it but I don’t always listen.”

Like what?  Shouyou wanted to ask, but just as he was about to speak, someone approached.

“Kenma! This is where you are!”

Kenma glanced up, met the stranger’s glare, and then returned to the game.

“Why are you sitting out here?” the stranger continued. He strode up the corridor, his wand in his left hand, and as he got closer, Shouyou could make out his features.

Very clearly.

He cowered.

A little.

The stranger’s eyes narrowed when he saw him. He ran his hands through his hair (not very smoothly, as his fingers seemed to get stuck in the thatch hanging over his eye) and then folded his arms across his chest. “Who’s this?”

“Shouyou,” Kenma replied, and pressed a few more buttons. “What does this dog want?”

“A walk, probably. Or there’s a competition he could enter, but that dog’s kind of crap at them. He’s new.” Shouyou screwed up his face. “It’s a really boring game, but I’ve got some others. Only they’re in my trunk. I could go and get them.”

“Kenma!” the other boy repeated. “You’ve got to change. We’ll be there soon.”

“Oh.” Kenma’s face, which had been screwed up in concentration, smoothed back to impassivity. He handed back the DS. “I better go. Thank you, Shouyou.”

“Yeah... bye.” He took the DS back, watching as one of the poodles Natsu had trained pooped on the street and waited for him to clear up the mess. A shadow loomed over him.

“That won’t work at Hogwarts, you know?” Kenma’s friend said.

Shouyou lifted his face up to stare. “It won’t?”

“Nope. Magic interferes with your electrickery stuff. You shouldn’t have brought it.” He crouched down by him, leaning closer. “You could get into all kinds of shit for bringing it with you. The Bloody Baron’ll fry your ass.”

“Don’t,” Kenma murmured, pulling on his sleeve until he stood up.

“Am I really gonna be in trouble?” Shouyou asked.

“He’s kidding,” Kenma said softly, but didn’t sound convinced.

“I won’t tell,” the boy replied and smirked. “At least I won’t tell if you’re Sorted into Slytherin. Gryffindor’s a different matter.”

“Ha, picking on first years, I might have known, Kuroo,” said someone else, someone who seemed to have crept up unawares on all of them, and now leant on the wall opposite Shouyou staring down the Slytherin boy.

“Having a little fun, Sawamura,” Kuroo replied, arching one eyebrow. “Not somethin’ you guys know about unless it’s some boring firework display or a really unfunny prank.”

Sawamura snorted. “Still mad at the canary creams turning your hair yellow?”

He pushed himself off the wall, and stood in the middle of the corridor, hands on his hips. From his vantage point on the floor, Shouyou could just about make out his height (shorter than Kuroo) and black hair (tidier than Kuroo’s) and from the dagger looks he was shooting at both Kuroo and Kenma, he was a boy not to be messed with. “You okay?” he asked Shouyou, addressing the question to him without letting his eyes leave Kuroo’s face.

“Uh-huh, sure,” he replied, and hurriedly got to his feet.

“Good. Got your wand on you?”

“Um ... yeah, but I don’t ... know ... uh ...”

“Muggleborn?”

Shouyou scowled, a sudden flash of annoyance cramming every other emotion from his head. “Everyone keeps asking me that. Is it a problem? Only if it is, then can I get off the next stop and leave?”

He saw Kenma blink at him, his hand fluttering a little in front of his face. Kuroo licked his lips, seemingly amused at the outburst, but it was Sawamura’s hand on his shoulder than made him jump.

“Not a problem at all. At least not in Gryffindor.”

“Hey, hey, don’t fill the shrimp’s head with ideas, Sawamura! I ain’t prejudiced.”

“Unless they’re Gryffindors,” Kenma said so softly only Shouyou caught his words. They smiled at each other.

“You’re the one with the chip on your shoulder,” Kuroo continued, raising his voice.

“And you’re the one who makes sure it stays there, Tetsurou!” Sawamura yelled back.

“Not my fault you’re touchy about your background.”

“And you _have_ to keep mentioning it!”

Kuroo laughed. “Only ‘cause I know it gets a rise out of you. This year’s gonna be so much fun taking you apart in every lesson. Again.”

The knuckles on Sawamura’s hand went white and his wand twitched upwards. Then, as Shouyou was debating whether to raise his in a show of camaraderie, or whether to hide behind Sawamura, a carriage door creaked open.

“Fighting again? We’re not even at Hogwarts yet,” a mollifying voice said.

Both boys stopped. Sawamura’s wand dropped to his side, and Kuroo shuffled his feet. The owner of the mellifluous voice stepped into the corridor, and eyeing them all he turned his focus on Shouyou, flashing him a wide smile.

“Don’t take anything they say to heart. This one...” He gestured to Kuroo, “Likes to wind people up – especially Gryffindors. Whilst Sawamura...” He pressed his lips together as if stifling a giggle, “thinks he’s fighting a one-wizard battle for Muggleborns.”

And then, tilting his head to one side, letting the lamplight halo around his silvery hair, the newcomer held out his hand. “I’m Sugawara Koushi. If you’d like to sit in a carriage with me, then that’s not a problem at all.” He gave him a small wink. “Muggle Studies is one of my options this year, so anything you can tell me would be wonderful. But ... uh ... it might be better if you get back to your carriage and change into your robes. Not long now ‘til we arrive and ...” He sighed and took a breath, sounding dreamy. “When you see Hogwarts for the first time, you’re going to be very pleased you didn’t get off early.”

 

***

Sugawara hadn’t lied about his first sight of Hogwarts. In a boat with three other first years (one the scowling Kyoutani, one an excitable boy called Nishinoya Yuu, who couldn’t keep still and almost caused the boat to capsize, and one the girl from his carriage, Mai, who kept her head firmly on the view ahead) he saw the castle lit by flaming torches, and what seemed to be fireflies, huge and imposing in the distance. But for all its magnificence and majesty, there was something right about the place, something that chimed with Shouyou as they approached. And the bubbles in his stomach were no longer fear, but excitement. Across the water, he spied Kenma, his expression blank again as a loud boy with an earring nudged him in the chest. And Shouyou tried to catch his eye, but Kenma had turned his head away, closing in on himself.

In the dark and the crowd, Shouyou didn’t see him again until they were lined up in a place called the Great Hall.  He gaped at the sight of candles floating in the air, a ceiling that Mai whispered was enchanted to look like the sky, and four long tables already crammed with noisy pupils waiting for whatever initiation the first years were about to face.

And when it started. When ‘Akaashi K’ was the first to be Sorted, in minutes and with no physical signs of distress, Shouyou still didn’t relax. Because yes, it looked as if it was merely a matter of sitting on a rickety stool with a hat on your head, but what if it declared he was too dumb for anywhere?

 _I want to fly,_ he thought. _Please let me stay. I’m sorry for what I said earlier._

He gulped when it was almost his turn. His stomach contorting into knots, he felt a familiar well of nausea churning his guts and his head started to swim. What if he puked? What if he collapsed before he got to the stool? If he fainted, could the Hat still Sort him? Feverishly rubbing his clammy hands down his robes, he scanned the room, hoping for some kind of reassurance. But it was a sea of faces, and he was so much shorter than most of the first years, that no one remotely kind was looking his way.

As the chills waved through him, first cold then hot, he knew he had to get away, and twisted around on the ball of his foot, desperate to escape.

“It’s okay,” whispered a voice as a hand gently touched his arm.

“Kenma.” Shouyou exhaled a huge sigh of relief, his heart beginning to return to a normal beat after the fierce pitter-patter thumping in his chest.

“It’s only a hat,” Kenma said.

“But aren’t Houses important?” he implored.

Just then, Shouyou’s name was called, and Kyoutani shoved him forwards before Kenma could reply.

_‘What have we here?’_

“WHAT? WHO SAID THAT?” he yelped, falling off the stool.

The Great Hall laughed.

“Aww, this kid’s cute!” yelled someone, and looking across Shouyou spied the girl he’d seen in Diagon Alley, sitting a little further down the table from Sawamura. “Hey sweetie, you relax there!”

Heartened, he sat back on the stool, and plonked the tatty hat back on his head. 

 _‘Yes, it’s the Hat!’_ the Hat snarled at him. _‘I’m talking to you, so listen and let me do my work.’_

“Okay!” Shouyou replied, then flushed when he realised he’d spoken aloud again, and winced as the Hat squeezed it’s brim across his forehead.

 _‘Certainly not a Ravenclaw!’_ it snapped. _‘Works hard ... but only when inspired. That’s Hufflepuff out. Hmmm ... ambitious. A thirst to succeed, but ... what’s this? what’s this?’_ The Hat slowed its deliberations. _‘You want to fly, do you?’_

Shouyou nodded.

_‘But you haven’t before.  A little scared, are we?’_

_I want to fly,_ Shouyou insisted, _and, yeah, maybe I am scared, but that won’t stop me._

_‘Foolish, reckless, brave. There’s only one house for you, Hinata Shouyou and I knew it as soon as you tried me on.’_

_Then why didn’t you tell me?_

_‘I like a bit of fun,’_ the Hat replied, and started to chuckle.

_So ... where am I?_

“GRYFFINDOR!” proclaimed the Hat.

And to the delight of the table bedecked in red and gold, Shouyou ran to sit down. Gold, like the Snitch. This is where he’d learn to fly. This was his destiny. Squeezing on the end of a bench, he made sure there was enough room.

Just in case.

But Kenma wasn’t Gryffindor bound. His face a blank, he sat slumped on the stool, the Hat nearly covering his eyes as he waited. And there was an inevitability about it, Shouyou thought, because even as the Hat debated, Kenma didn’t appear to argue with its pronouncement.

Kozume Kenma joined his friend Kuroo at the Slytherin table, and suddenly Shouyou felt the gold around him had lost its lustre.

 

It was impossible for his spirits not to be raised by the company he was in. Nishinoya had barged to the space next to him, and with the boy from Diagon Alley introducing himself as Tanaka Ryuunosuke, braying with laughter then scowling when his sister threw a potato at his head, Hinata felt again a tug in his soul. _It’s like I’m at home,_ he thought, _except it’s a home where I really belong and not one where my mom has to make excuses for me._

“Knew you’d be a Gryffindor,” Sawamura said from across the table. He grinned at him. “You stood up to me and that asshat Kuroo. That takes guts.”

He smiled back, liking Sawamura, even if he was scarily confident for a second year and holding his own amongst a gang of bigger and louder boys.

But still something tugged at him, a small part of his heart a touch cold and sad because ...

He turned around, bobbing his head up and down, trying to catch Kenma’s attention, checking to see if he was okay, because could he really be happy in Slytherin?

Exhaustion overtook him before he knew it, and chivvied by Ryuu’s sister (‘Hi, I’m Saeko, pleased to meet ya, Shorty!’) he left the Great Hall yawning his head off.

Saeko led them into the atrium, stopping before she mounted the stairs, and fixed them all with a grin. “We’ve got seven flights of stairs to climb. At least, I hope that’s all we have, ‘cause some of these stairs have a habit of movin’ on ya, and then you could end up anyway. So, let’s pray they behave for us all tonight.”

Hinata trailed at the end of the line. He was drooping now, not even Yuu’s enthusiasm could stop his eyelids from drooping. And as he trudged up the stairs, hearing the shout of ‘Watch out for the Trick Step’, he lost his footing and tumbled down to the bottom.

“You okay there?” Saeko called out.

“Fine!” he shouted and picked himself up. Brushing some dust off his robes and checking his wand was intact, he began to climb the stairs again, when a clamour of voices stopped him.

Turning his head, his eyes met Kenma’s as the Slytherin first years left the Hall, and he waited to see if the boy would acknowledge him now they were separated by their Sorting. His spirits plummeted when Kenma looked down at his feet and Shouyou knew, right then, that everything he’d heard about the Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry was true.  He looked away, and trudged up the stairs, wary in case they started moving, or his foot fell through the wood.

But as the voices behind him lessened and the sea of black robes streamed down to the dungeons, he felt a small tug on his sleeve.

No one was there.

And yet someone was, and as Shouyou looked down, he could see a solitary toecap peeping up at him. He reached across, his fingers coming into contact with something soft, far softer than wool.

“Kenma,” he whispered.

“Shouyou,” Kenma murmured.

“I’m guessing you wearing that cloak means we can’t be friends, huh?” Shouyou said sadly, and waited for the inevitable goodbye. “It’s going to be too difficult, with you being a Slytherin and me a Gryffindor.”

 The air seemed to shimmer in front of him, and then he saw a hand appear from behind the cloak, pulling back the hood, until he could see a large pair of slanting amber eyes observing him.

“Stuff like Houses doesn’t matter to me, Shouyou,” Kenma muttered. “I kind of don’t like how it separates us.”

Shouyou smiled, his exhaustion gone in an instant. “Me, neither.

“Thing is ...” Kenma shifted his feet on the wooden step. “Look ... uh ...I’ve heard there are some parts of Hogwarts where ... uh ... Muggle things do work, so ... uh ... maybe ...if we explored ... together ...” He cleared his throat. “That tendo game thing... could we ...” His voice faltered a little. “I’ve got this cloak. We could trade.”

Shouyou’s smile didn’t waver. He leant closer, then taking Kenma’s hand in his, he gave it a squeeze. “I couldn’t take that from you, but ... um ... you could teach me how to fly. I wanna play Quidditch, and score goals, or catch that Snitch. Maybe we could even play against each other, one day.”

For a moment, Shouyou thought Kenma was going to slip back inside his cloak and retreat down the stairs. But instead, his lips twitched into another smile. “Uh... well, I guess I could, but... uh ... from what I’ve heard, Slytherin’s strong.”

“Sawamura says that about the Gryffindors,” Shouyou replied. “And the witch leading us to Gryffindor Tower, she’s on the team and says they’re gonna win every match this year.”

A shout from Ryuu dragged his attention back to the Gryffindors trotting up the stairs, and with reluctance, but much lighter of heart, he waved to Kenma before bounding up three more steps. “How ‘bout it, then?”

“Yeah, only ...” Kenma was biting his lip, his eyes downcast. “Shouyou, I ... uh ...”

Maybe he’d sounded too fervent for Kenma pulled his face straight. His shoulders sagged, his posture weary all of a sudden, so Shouyou reached out again and touched his arm. 

“What’s the matter?”

“Um... we get flying lessons anyway. Ukai’s supposed to be really good.”

“Really?”  He laughed aloud. “That’s amazing. I’m going to learn how to fly. Gah, I love Hogwarts already!”

Kenma coughed and now looking wretched, slunk down the stairs. “So, I ... uh ... don’t have anything to trade, ‘cept for this cloak.”

Shouyou tilted his head to one side. “Having something to trade, _that_ sort of stuff doesn’t matter to me, Kenma. We can still meet up, can’t we? It’ll be fun.”

Kenma blinked. “Fun,” he muttered, looking for all the world as if he’d never considered _anything_ to be fun, but a chore to be endured.  Then giving a little grimace as he heard someone from below yelling his name, he walked down a stair. “Yeah, I think with you around, it will be.”

Looking back, he gave a small smile. “I wasn’t sure about coming here,” he murmured, “Kuro said it was amazing. But ... uh ...I didn't really believe him.”

"And now?" Shouyou asked, holding his breath.

Kenma's hands fluttered protectively across his chest, and then he continued, his voice a little louder and clearer, “I think I’m going to love Hogwarts, too.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of an occasional series I'll write about Haikyuu and Hogwarts. The stories are random but all linked ... ish.


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